Officials speaking at a drug conference with the Australian Federal Police say that airport drug smuggling is on the rise in Cambodia

THE National Authority for Combating Drugs says drug traffickers are changing tactics and increasingly using Cambodian airports for smuggling rather than employing overland routes to bring narcotics into the country.

In October alone, authorities seized three kilograms of cocaine at Phnom Penh International Airport, said Lour Ramin, secretary general of the NACD.

He was speaking at a drug investigation training seminar Monday being held with the Australian Federal Police.

"In a recent situation this year, there was [increased] drug trafficking to Cambodia via the airport," he told the Post following the seminar.

"We will strengthen our security at all the border checkpoints and airports," he added.

Dozens of drugs traffickers have been seized trying to enter or leave Cambodia in the last few years, many of them Taiwanese nationals who were caught trying to board flights from Phnom Penh with large quantities of heroin hidden in their clothing.

Margaret Adamson, Australia's ambassador to Cambodia, said she admired the Cambodian government's effort to combat drug trafficking.

But she warned that there was still more work to be done.

"Cambodian authorities must continue to monitor, investigate and prosecute those responsible for the manufacture, supply and trafficking of precursor chemicals used in the production of drugs," she said.